Van Buren falls short to Cabot

Van Buren had its chances on Thursday at the Class 6A State Tournament but it was not to be as Cabot came away with the 49-38 win in the opening round. “You get down 18-4 and that puts a monkey on your back,” Van Buren coach Chris Bryant said of his team’s starting effort. “But the girls came back as we settled down, we regrouped and started getting our shots.” Indeed, Van Buren played like a different team in the third quarter as the Lady Pointers ran out to 17 points and tied the game up 29-29 on the strength of a Bailee Woodard three-pointer. The junior guard scored all of her 9 points that quarter but it wasn’t enough as the Pointers couldn’t get over the hump and Cabot had a 32-31 lead at the start of the fourth quarter. Leading the way for Van Buren was sophomore guard Brooklyn Kannady with 16 points. “She has the ability to score in a variety of ways,” Bryant said Kannady, who was a perfect six of six from the free throw line, while also hitting two three pointers. The second of which tied the game up at 35-35 with 5:02 remaining but Cabot, used a mix of defensive pressure and clutch free throw shooting to put the game away. The Panthers were 13 of 14 from the charity stripe in the game to get the win. Kannady led all scorers as Van Buren, the No. 6 seed from the West, ends the season at 10-18. Cabot, the No. 3 seed from the Central, is now 23-5 and moves on to face No. 2 seed Fayetteville at 7 p.m. on Friday at Bryant. “That’s the thing about the state tournament,” Bryant said. “You are looking for good quality of play and we got that in the second half.” Things got off to a promising start for Van Buren as junior forward Elizabeth Rainwater got the team’s first bucket and gave her team the early lead with 6:48 remaining in the first quarter, but points were hard to come by as Cabot quickly responded and then took a lead they never relinquished with 4:42 remaining. The future looks bright for Van Buren though as 37 of the team’s 38 points were scored by underclassmen. In addition to Kannady’s 16, and Woodard’s 9, Rainwater added 7, as Bri Ball, a freshman, chipped in 5. Senior point guard Lexi Miller had 1 point in the loss. Both teams cleared the bench in the game’s closing minutes. Cabot’s Shy Christopher had 15 and was the only player for the Panthers in double figures. BOYS Bryant 58, Van Buren 47 For a time, it looked like Van Buren was going to pull off the upset of the Class 6A boys state tournament. But the Pointers couldn’t hold on and Bryant, in front of an impressive home crowd, pulled away for the 58-47 win on Thursday afternoon. After a back-and-forth first half, Van Buren worked inside and out in the third quarter to take the five-point lead, 42-37, at the start of the fourth. Then Bryant turned it on as Aiden Adams for the Hornets opened with a three-pointer, while Arlon Jenkins hit back-to-back layups to give Bryant the 44-42 lead. On Van Buren’s ensuing possession, guard Gary Phillips was called for the offensive foul on the drive to the basket and coach Brad Autry was then whistled for the technical foul as he protested the call. The technical took the wind out of Van Buren’s sails as Bryant methodically built the lead and the eventual winning margin. Van Buren ends its season at 10-17, while Bryant improved to 17-11 and will now face Fayetteville, the No. 2 seed from the West, at 8:30 p.m. on Friday. Phillips, a junior at Van Buren, led the Pointers and scorers with 15 points for the game. Bryant’s efforts were more balanced as Khasen Robinson had 14, Jenkins with 13 and Adams added 12. Key to the Bryant win was its advantage in three-pointers as the Hornets hit nine in the game to just two for Van Buren.

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Van Buren High School Athletics

VAN BUREN FALLS SHORT TO CABOT

JEREMY PEPPAS

Times Record | 3/5/2020

PHOTO CREDIT: Van Buren High School Athletics